Mr Harvey carefully gave each syllable a coat of treacle

Something Amazing. An Hon Member stood up and suggested that there be a cull of MPs. He proposed chopping numbers from the current, bloated figure of 659 to about 500.

The fellow in question was Andrew George, a handsome but unexciting Lib Dem from St Ives, Cornwall. No orator, young George. He gulps, waffles, repeats himself like a man who has had lamb curry for lunch.

As he meanders through sentences Mr George has a habit of tugging on an ear lobe. It is really quite astonishing what a poor public speaker he is. But good on him for the core of his suggestion. Given that he himself would be a prime candidate for extermination he is to be congratulated on showing such noble indifference to his fate. The debate was held in Westminster Hall, an expensive annexe where MPs burble away unnoticed.

The one consolation they have is knowing that their words will appear in the next day's Hansard and can therefore be faxed to the newsdesk of their constituency newspaper.

Sure enough, hardly anyone turned up for Mr George's debate on the composition of Parliament. In attendance: one other Lib Dem, one minister, one shadow minister, one ministerial aide and, er, that was it. Not a single member of the public turned up to hear the Cornish Cicero.

Up stood Mr George, peachy dimpled, his smallish fingers flexing at the end of two slightly too-long sleeves. He noted that the Commons wanted to sack 40,000 civil servants. Should not MPs (each of whom costs £211,000 per annum) set an example and axe a few score from their own pampered ranks?

Mr George was sure everyone could think of MPs they would like to get rid of but this was not about personalities. It was the principle. Britain had 'an unfeasibly large number of MPs'. Time for a firing squad!

This brought us to Nick Harvey (Lib Dem, N Devon). Ah. It is only when one hears a speech from Mr Harvey that one is forced to reappraise the rhetorical abilities of Comrade George.

Mr Harvey spoke at length, at really very considerable length, about his vision for the British political system. He wanted to get the Commons down to just 450 MPs, but at a price. As he proceeded to tell us, in detail, his plan envisaged greater powers for county councils, regional councils, local talking shops, etc.

The Minister, David Lammy, begged a sucky sweet from an aide to while away the time. In the press enclosure elbows slipped off the table edge. A civil servant left the Hall dazed, her eyes glazed. It is possible she was in need of oxygen, or simply a loaded revolver.

Was the Hall's clock working? How could the seconds pass so slowly? As Mr Harvey carefully gave each syllable a coat of treacle the breathing in his audience slowed to the respiratory rate of a hibernating tortoise. It was at this point that Sir Nicholas Winterton squawked. The singular Sir Nicholas (Con, Macclesfield) was in the chair and, like the rest of us, may have been struggling to keep his eyelids open. "Order!" he suddenly screeched. People jolted, jumping high out of their skins. Sir Nicholas proceeded to make some minor point of order, but his intention had been plain. It was, to use that hackneyed expression, a wake-up call.

When Mr Harvey finally sat down after half an hour we heard the shadow minister, Oliver Heald, agree that there were too many MPs. Chipmunk-cheeked Mr Heald, a congenial roly-poly, showed himself a man of mercy. He spoke for just nine minutes. He noted that when Britain had an Empire the Commons made do with 658 Members. Now we run nothing. The European Union is taking away our powers. Devolution has further eroded decisions from Westminster. Why do we now have 659 MPs?

Mr Lammy would not agree to a cull. No one expected him to. But Mr George's debate was a useful starting point. There is a campaign to be pursued here. And I think we all know where a cull could begin, don't we?